Author's Note
Do let me know if you think the pacing was a little too fast.
I might go back and edit this chapter to make it longer if I can think of anything else to add.
Wishes do come true.
Princess Cadence walked alone along the path in the whitetail woods with only her thoughts to keep her company…
Those specific thoughts have been something she had been haunted by for some time.. ever since she had babysat twilight sparkle years ago…
She had wanted to have a child of her own… a child to take care of and love with all her heart…
But that was just a wish… a wish that she knew would never come true…
It's not like she hasn't tried, it's just that she could never seem to win whenever she did try… believe it when she says she tried… she really did.
But there was one huge and painful problem…
She could never have children… she was infertile… she found out after the fifth or sixth time she and Shining Armor tried… they went to the doctors to find out what was wrong… and the news devastated her..
After that nothing was the same… Shining started drifting from her… he just sort of… shut down after they learned the news…
He was mostly silent these days whenever they see each other or sit down to eat dinner… they don't even sleep in the same bed anymore!
Shining just stopped coming home at night… and sometimes when he did come home… he was drunk and then Shining and her got into loud long arguments…
They almost always ended with her either crying after he walked away or her stomping off angrily as he passes out on the floor… this happened to be one of the latter…
She usually calms down around now after an hour or two walking by herself though afterwards her mind would always drift to the subject that was currently her problem right now…
And before you say it… yes she has tried the adoption route… but that never worked for one reason...
Shining Armor, That big fat stupid meanie head...
It was that whenever she had the ponies around from the adoption agencies Shining would come staggering through the door reeking of alcohol and thanks to his... antics... this lead to them deeming us unfit parents.
Honestly with him around I don't blame them... I don't understand why he is behaving this way... we used to be so happy together... what happened..?
Eventually she just stopped trying and started focusing on getting a devorice… but she never got approved to see an agency for that either… in fact… she never once got a response from them… which made her realize eventually that Shining must have had something to do with it… and she couldn't go herself as she was to busy with her royal duties to take time off and visit these agencies herself..
Cadence sighed sadly as she held her head low to the ground… letting her tears fall as she kept on trotting along her path…
As she was trotting along the path tears still flowing down her eyes she heard what sounded like… crying?
She stopped as she swiveled her ears around… trying to locate the source of the sound.
Her ears stopped swiveling when she located the sound behind her… she slowly turned around and found that where she was hearing this sound was from in the woods.
Curious she started in that direction quietly and cautiously…
After a couple of minutes of silently creeping toward the noise she pushed away some bushes in her path a bit as she peaked through the hole she made in the Bush and silently gasped at what she saw.
There laying against a tree was a strange bipedal creature… and he (from what she could tell from the voice.) Was crying…
The creature sounded young… very young from what she could tell… perhaps around 5 or 6…
As she looked closer at the creature she realized that it was hurt… she saw blood running down its arms and… claws? and its hind legs as it was wearing what looked like shorts and a navy blue t-shirt with what looked like some weird shoes on his feet…
She looked up at his head and seen that he had brown hair that covered his eyes from the angle she was looking at him from
She felt her heart breaking as she saw him shivering as she heard his sorrowful cries.
She hadn't realized she had been moving towards the creature until she was about 2 feet away from him as she stepped on a twing.
It made a loud snap as the creature tensed and looked up at her as they both made eye contact…
Cadence and the creature stared at each other in tense silence waiting for each other to make a move…
His brown eyes gazed into her own purple ones
Cadence held her hoof up to move closer as the creature looked like he was about to bolt..
Cadence quietly spoke in a soft voice
"Hey hey... it's okay… I'm not going to hurt you…"
The creature looked at her as he heard her voice… and looked to calm down a bit… but still looked ready to run at a moments notice.
Cadence crouched down as to not look threatening with her height difference as she slowly made her way over to the creature.
Said creature kept his eyes on her as she got closer… still ready to run at a moment's notice.
Cadence got to him as she sat down in front of him as she looked him over and could see more injuries on him then she had first seen… his forehead was bleeding and had a black eye as well as numerous bruises and scratches all over his body…
Cadence felt her eyes water as she looked upon this poor creature "who did this to you..?"
He said nothing as he looked up at her with fear and wonder in his eyes…
Cadence looked at him. "Can you speak..?"
He nods.
"You can..?"
He nodded again.
"...would it be okay if I heard you speak..?"
He shook his head no hesitantly
Cadence looked at him for a second before nodding slowly "alright… I won't force you if you don't want too… but can I see your arms..?"
He stared at her
She realized what he meant and quickly explained. "Your hurt… I was asking if I could see your arms to help with your wounds… it won't hurt I promise.."
He then reluctantly slowly held his arm out to her… as she saw the bruises and the bloody scratches on his arms she has also seen a few scars on his arms as well..
Cadence felt her blood boil as she felt anger building up… ‘who would hurt a creature as precious and fragile as this…?’ but she kept her anger inside as she gave him a gentle smile as she took his arm in her hooves as she looked up at him
“I’m going to make you feel better okay..? Don’t worry… It won’t hurt I promise…”
He nodded as her horn lit up in a warm light blue as his arms also started to glow the same way as her horn as he started to freak out
“Hey shhh shhh… it’s alright.. It’s okay…” she says soothingly.
He looked up at her and she gave him a small smile as she gently rubbed his now healed arm.
“See..? all better..” he looked at his arm and seen that all the bruises and scratches were now gone..
Cadence gently smiles at him as she sees the childish curiosity on his face as he looked his arm all over.
This confirmed to her that he was indeed a child…
She felt something she hadn’t felt in a long time… hope.
She broke out of her thoughts as she looked back at him and seen him looking up at her curiously.
“Oh sorry… spaced off there… here let me see your other arm please?”
He nodded slowly as he gave her his other arm as she repeated what she had done the first time… soon he was looking much better as she had spent the next 30 minutes healing what she could…
‘That will do until I can get him to a doctor to get a check up.’ she thought as she looked at the child in front of her.
A gust of wind blew through the area as she watched as he shivered again.
She then gently pulled him against her as she unfurled her wings and wrapped them around him as she pressed his head against her chest..
He tried to push away from her but she kept him against her.
“Hey hey,,, its okay… shhhh..” she started to gently rub his back as she started to comfort him
Eventually he stopped fighting her as he felt her soft and warm fur as his shivering slowed down.
He then wrapped his arms around her as she nuzzled his forehead as she started to hum.
His eyes started to droop as he fought to not fall asleep but eventually he lost as he drifted off to sleep in her warm embrace.
She smiled as she saw he had fallen asleep as she gently picked him up and cradled him in her hooves.
She kept him against her chest as she thought to herself ‘ill take good care of you…’ and smiled as she gently nuzzled his forehead once more.
She then looked up into the night sky as she now realized how late it was…
“Oh dear… I best get back to the castle… auntie won’t be too happy with me if i’m late to that meeting tomorrow…” she looked down at the child between her hooves “but what do I do with you..?” she pondered out loud “I can’t and won’t leave you here… but I can’t let anyone see you… I don’t know what they would do to you… what do I do..?”
She eventually decided to just go back and tell her aunt in the morning… and hope she wouldn’t freak out…
So with that she started to flap her wings as she took to the air… still cradling the child close to her chest as she flew back in the direction of canterlot...
Cadence flew through the night as she would be arriving in canterlot soon.
But she couldn’t stop thinking about the events that had happened not even 40 minutes ago.
She looked down at the child in her hooves and smiled as she saw him sleeping soundly between her hooves as she held him closer to her chest.
‘I hope he’s warm enough, though if he was cold he would be shivering again...’ she thought as she held him a little tighter.
'Best not to risk it. I don't want him to get sick..'
She continued her flight on to canterlot in silence.
Though eventually she makes it back to canterlot as she flies above the city she mostly stays out of sight to avoid attracting attention to herself and the child in her hooves.
She flew toward the castle as she thought about how to get back into her room without anyone seeing her or the child.
'Wasn't there a balcony connected to it..?'
She flew around the castle a couple of times before she spotted the balcony and softy landed on it,
Her horn lit up as she took hold of the child's small frame and stood up as she gently floated him onto her back where she covered him with her wings to keep him warm.
satisfied with this she trotted into the room.
As she walked into the room she saw the form of Shining Armor on the floor still where he passed out earlier as she trotted by without a moment's pause sighing as she did so.
She headed toward the bedroom that her and Shining were meant to share and silently opened the door as she entered it, closing it behind her with a silent click as she locked it.
She went over to the bed as she gently unwrapped her wings from around the child as she activated her horn once more and floated him off her back and gently laid him on the bed and gently wrapped the blankets around the child.
She watched the child slumber as his chest rose and fell with each breath
She silently watched him as her thoughts went from what he was and where he came from to who his parents were and why they had left him all alone in the middle of the woods?
The more she thought about it the more questions arose as she was left with many still unanswered..
She sighed as she pushed these thoughts aside and chose to focus on the here and now.
Currently she was left with this child of an unknown species and she was unsure how to proceed.⁷ would take the child to her aunt and figure out how to proceed from there…
With that out of the way she went around to the other side of the bed as she carefully got into it and got under the covers herself and tried to get some sleep.
After a couple of minutes she heard whimpering as she looked over at the small child next to her and saw the child curled up into a ball as he whimpered.
Cadence sat up and pulled him against her and wrapped her wings and hooves around him.
"Shhh shhh shhh… you're okay… I'm here… shhh…"
She held him close to her as she slowly rubbed his back as she slowly rocked back and forth as she consoled him.
After a time his frightful murmurs died away and he fell into a peaceful slumber.
Cadence smiled and gently laid back down still holding the child against her chest as she kept her wings wrapped around him.
She used her magic to pull the covers back over them as she held him against her chest.
She looked down at the child between her hooves and gently nuzzled his forehead.
Cadence closes her eyes as she falls into a restful sleep… something she had not had in a long time..
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cadence stirs as her eyes flutter open.
She yawned as she looked around and spotted the child silently sleeping between her hooves.
She stared at him as the events of the night before came flooding back to her.
She smiled at the child as she gently rubbed the back of his head with her hoof.
She watched as the child stirred as his eyes opened as he looked confused before he looked up at her.
She smiles at him "good morning little one. Did you sleep well..?"
He stares at Cadence as he slowly looks down and nods.
Cadence looked at him as her smile changed to a slight frown "...is something bothering you?"
He doesn't respond as he keeps looking down.
Cadence gently put her hoof under his chin and lifted his head up to look at her.
"Hey.. you can tell me what's wrong, I won't be mad I promise."
He looked at her as she could see the sadness in his eyes.
He looked like he wanted to say something but couldn't muster up the courage to do so.
Cadence sighs as she let his chin go and pat his head. "Its okay… you don't have to tell me if you don't want to… but I'm here if you do want to talk.."
He nodded looking guilty but still not saying a word.
Cadence let him get up as he did so silently as he looked around the room in wonder.
Cadence smiled at this as she to sat on the edge on the other side of the bed.
She then remembered Shining was still passed out on the floor in the next room and got up off the bed and silently trotted over to the door.
She got to the door and as quietly as she could she unlocked it and peeked out into the room.
She looked at where Shining was the night before and sure enough he was still out cold on the floor..
'What do I do about this..? I don't want the little one to see this… I can't wake him up either because then he would start another argument with me and I definitely don't want him to see or hear that…'
She turned around and closed the door behind her as she looked at the little child sitting on the edge of the bed staring at her.
She facehooved when she realized that she hadn't even asked for his name nor does he know hers. " I'm so sorry it's only occurred to me now that you and I don't even know each others names.."
She trotted over to the bed and stood in front of him as she looked down at him.
"My name is Mi Amore Cadenza. But to keep it simple just call me Cadence."
She looked at the child.
"And what is your name little one..?"
He looked down at his feet as he hung his head.
Cadence was concerned by this reaction as she looked at him and frowned.
"Do you not have one..?"
He nodded his head as he looked up at her.
"Yes what? Yes you have a name?"
He nodded again.
"Okay what is it then..?"
He looked at her and she saw the fear in his eyes as well as sadness as he looked at her.
"...can you tell me your name..?"
He shook his head no.
"Why not?"
He just stares at her silently as she sighed
"Little one… I just want to help you but I can't help if i don't know what the problem is…"
The child looked conflicted as he opened his mouth but closes it as he gains a fearful look on his face.
Cadence sees this and wonders why he looked so scared when he tried to talk when it clicked.
"Are you scared to talk?"
He nods.
"Is there a reason why your afraid to talk?"
He nodded again.
"Does it have something to do with your name?"
He shook his head
"Then what is it? Why are you so afraid to talk?" She asked a little aggressively as the situation was getting aggravating but soon after regretted it.
He flinched as he looked at her with fear in his eyes.
She pulled him into a hug as she comforted him.
"Oh no no no I'm sorry I didn't mean it, I'm not angry at you I'm upset with the situation I promise I'm not mad at you… please don't be afraid..."
the child nodded as she held him against her as she rubbed his back with her hoof soothingly.
After a little while she let him go as she looked at him.
"Alright… I don’t know why your afraid of talking but I promise you that nothing will hurt you if you do… I won't let anything happen to you okay?"
He looked at her before eventually he nodded as she heard him speak for the first time since she found him.
"L-Leon…"
She gently smiled at him as she put her hoof on his shoulder and rubbed it. "That's a wonderful name, Leon." She smiled as she said it "it is nice to meet you Leon."
"Y-you too m-miss Cadence.."
She smiled at him as she nuzzled him
"You don't have to call me miss Leon just Cadence is fine."
He nodded as he looked down.
Cadence then heard a groan from outside the room as her eyes widened as she looked at leon.
Cadence quickly picked up leon with her front hooves and quickly flew over to the nearby closet as she threw open the door as quietly as she could and got inside with leon as she landed on the ground and shut the door silently as the door to the bedroom opened.
Cadence held leon against her chest as she wrapped her wings around him and peered through the small opening in the closet door as she saw Shining Armor stumble through the room and onto the bed.
He got under the covers as Cadence kept Leon pressed against her as much as she could as she could feel his breathing starting to speed up and began to panic.
"Shhh… shhhh…" she comforted him.
She looked down at him to see he was looking back up at her with fear in his eyes not understanding what was going on.
She lowered her head down and nuzzled him as she whispered reassuring words into his hair.
She kept comforting him as she heard snoring and looked out the small opening once more to see Shining Armor had fallen back to sleep.
Cadence's horn lit up as she picked Leon up with her magic and stood as put him on her back.
She turned her head back to look at him "Leon I want you to hold onto me and to be very quiet okay..?" She whispered to him
He quietly nodded as he wrapped his arms around her neck and held onto her.
Cadence smiled but it faded as she sighed and muttered "okay… here we go.."
Cadence quietly opened the door as she very carefully snuck out of the closet her eyes locked onto Shining Armor's sleeping form.
She silently crept across the floor as she made it to the still open door as she trotted out and back into the main room
Cadence closed the door behind her as quietly as she could as it shut with a soft click.
Cadence let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding as she looked back to Leon.
"Okay.. were safe for now. . It's okay to talk though do so quietly okay..?" He nodded.
"And if he comes out of that room I want you to stay behind me got it?" He nodded again.
Cadence smiled as she picked him up with her magic off her back and pulled him into a hug as she nuzzled him on the forehead.
"Good… now there's someone I want you to meet, but I'm not sure how to get to her without anyone seeing you…"
He nodded as he looked up at her.
Cadence sighed as she realized that getting him to talk some more might be a little harder than she thought.
Her thoughts then drifted to how to get leon to celestia… she can't take leon with her and she won't leave leon here by himself with Shining in the next room… unless…
Cadence flew over to a nearby chair and sat him down on it "stay here leon I'll be back in just a moment." She turned around and headed into the bedroom again as quietly as she could and snuck back over to the closet and opened the door as silently as she could and looked inside.
She smiled as she saw a stack of blankets as she took a blanket with her magic from the stack and closed the door again as she quickly made her way back out the door shutting it with a soft click.
She then trotted back over to leon with the blanket still in her magical grasp.
He looked at her curiously.
She noticed this and smiled "I've got an idea, the idea is that I will have you on my back under this blanket so that no one will see you."
He nodded.
Cadence then lays down on the floor and looks at him "climb on Leon."
He started to make his way towards her, but after a few steps he began to stumble and pitch forward. Cadence seeing this quickly adjusted herself so that he landed softly on her back.
She looked back at him worriedly "Leon are you okay?"
He nodded but she could clearly see the look of pain on his face.
She activated her magic as she took hold of him and gently floated him to the in front of her as she sat up and reached out with her front hooves and grabbed him as she cradled him to her chest
Not finding anything she sighs deciding to get him to a doctor soon to have a check up...
She activated her magic as she picked him up and put him on her back gently as she stood up and looked back at him "are you comfortable? Are you in any pain?"
"I-I'm o-okay…" he responded quietly
"Are you sure?"
He nods as he holds onto her.
She sighs as she uses her magic to put the blanket over Leon hiding him from sight.
"Okay… but if you feel any discomfort or pain let me know okay?"
"Y-yes ma'am…" he says quietly
She sighs "Leon dear you don't have to call me ma'am just Cadence is fine…"
She didn't get a response but she didn't need one as she knew he heard her so she just proceeded to the door as she quietly opened it and shut it behind her as she trotted down the hall.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Celestia was currently reading over important documents as she also did paperwork that needed to be signed.
She had been at this for hours to be ready for the meeting between the nations that was to happen in 4 hours as she sighed and put the papers down on her desk as she stretched as she heard some of her bones crack after sitting for so long.
'I need a break… I wonder what Luna and cadence are up to?'
She ponders this as she hears a knock at the door.
She turned her head to the door "come in."
The door opens as she sees Cadence's head peek in from behind the door "Auntie… I'm sorry if I'm intruding.."
"No no it's alright Cadence your not intruding in anything… was there something you needed..?"
Cadence steps into the room and shuts the door behind her as celestia saw a blanket covering most of Cadence's back.
Celestia getting a look at cadence began to chuckle and with mirth in her eyes and said, "I was not aware that blankets were the latest trend in fashion."
Cadence looked at celestia strangely before she chuckles and shakes her head as she looked at celestia “yes of course it’s all the rage these days.”
They both chuckle “but in all seriousness auntie I have something I need to show you.”
Celestia raised an eyebrow "and that would be..?"
Cadence's horn lit up as the blanket lifted up as she saw a human child on her back
"Cadence… where did you find a human child?" she asked surprised
Cadence looked at her aunt "is that what he is..? A human?"
Said human child was staring at celestia in wonder
She smiled at this as she got up out of her chair and trots over to her "Yes… though my question is how did he get here..?"
She stops as she stands next to cadence and looks down at the child as he looked up at her. "Hello there little one, I am Princess Celestia. May I ask what your name is?"
He looked up at her and as he did for some reason he felt… calm.
"L-Leon..." he mumbled
“im sorry little one I didn’t catch that… what did you say?”
In a louder voice he says “L-Leon..”
Celestia smiles and gently nuzzles his cheek "That is a lovely name Leon.”
Leon blushed and says nothing
Celestia and Cadence shared a look and Cadence sighs
"He's… not much of a talker auntie… I'm still working on it…"
Celestia nods as she pats leon on the head "that's quite alright Cadence, do you know where he came from?"
"No I don't I found him in the woods last night while I was… cooling off from an argument I had earlier with Shining."
Celestia sighs as she had heard about the constant arguments from Cadence in the letters she wrote to her.
Celestia had hoped things would get better between the two but it would seem that things have only gotten worse.
"I see…" celestia trailed off
An awkward silence prevailed as neither of them knew what to say.
"What should I do with him?"
"I don’t know auntie… we've just drifted so far apart I-" celestia cut her off
"I was talking about Leon dear."
"Oh… right… I was thinking that I would focus on helping him find his parents.” leon winced but it went unnoticed by the two.
“And if you don’t find them what will you do then?”
Cadence thought about it “I… don’t know.”
Author's Note
Next time on dragon bal-
wait...
oh shit wrong story!!
